Friday, February 13, 2015
Lullaby to a pig
Lek from the Elephant Nature Park in northern Thailand sings a soothing lullaby to a pig.
YouTube link.
Previously: Lek's lullaby singing soon has an elephant sleeping like a baby.
YouTube link.
Previously: Lek's lullaby singing soon has an elephant sleeping like a baby.
43-foot yacht caused traffic jam after getting stuck in snow bank
A 43-foot-long yacht named Maggie Mae blocked traffic in downtown Boston on Wednesday afternoon.
The boat was being towed by an 18-wheeler that stopped after getting stuck in a 6-foot snow bank. The boat was eventually freed after crews dug up snow and towed the truck out.
YouTube link.
Phil Bennett, vice president of sales for the boat's manufacturer, Hinckley Yachts, said that the boat in question is a 43-foot ‘Talaria’ that had just been completed.
“She was headed to the New England Boat Show,” Bennett explained. “She’ll be on display there.”
The boat was being towed by an 18-wheeler that stopped after getting stuck in a 6-foot snow bank. The boat was eventually freed after crews dug up snow and towed the truck out.
YouTube link.
Phil Bennett, vice president of sales for the boat's manufacturer, Hinckley Yachts, said that the boat in question is a 43-foot ‘Talaria’ that had just been completed.
“She was headed to the New England Boat Show,” Bennett explained. “She’ll be on display there.”
Burrowing burglar who became trapped between air ducts had to be freed by firefighters
A burglar who tore through a Seattle apartment building’s drywall in an attempt to get away from police instead found himself trapped between air ducts and had to be freed by firefighters.
It happened on Tuesday night at the Prudential apartment complex.
The burrowing burglar's saga began when he mangled a soda machine in the apartment's laundry room, only to grab a fistful of quarters.
One of the neighbours caught the burglar in the act and on the spot, he said the burglar used his tools to screw the door shut to plan his next move which involved cutting through the wall. Neighbours believe the burglar tore through five walls to gain access to other rooms. The burglar then crawled into the basement and trying to break outside.
"The basement's all stone and rock and so he was kind of done going through walls at that point,” said neighbour TJ Davis. “Then it looks like he was trying to work his way back up to a crevice to the alley and that's where he got stuck!" The burglar was trapped in between air ducts, and that's where tenants found him.
“We tracked him down to the garage and we cracked open this door and he was stuck in the vents crying for help, and it was kind of pitiful," said Billy, another neighbour. It took Seattle firefighters quite a while to cut the burglar out. Tenants recorded his moment of freedom on video. “The cops asked him what's his name was so they could get him medical attention, and all he said he was 'heroin',” one neighbour said.
With news video.
One of the neighbours caught the burglar in the act and on the spot, he said the burglar used his tools to screw the door shut to plan his next move which involved cutting through the wall. Neighbours believe the burglar tore through five walls to gain access to other rooms. The burglar then crawled into the basement and trying to break outside.
"The basement's all stone and rock and so he was kind of done going through walls at that point,” said neighbour TJ Davis. “Then it looks like he was trying to work his way back up to a crevice to the alley and that's where he got stuck!" The burglar was trapped in between air ducts, and that's where tenants found him.
“We tracked him down to the garage and we cracked open this door and he was stuck in the vents crying for help, and it was kind of pitiful," said Billy, another neighbour. It took Seattle firefighters quite a while to cut the burglar out. Tenants recorded his moment of freedom on video. “The cops asked him what's his name was so they could get him medical attention, and all he said he was 'heroin',” one neighbour said.
With news video.
Health officials take action about Californian supermarket selling frozen raccoons as food
The Health Department have taken action after a Los Angeles County supermarket’s frozen foods section featured an unusual item.
Inspectors from the LA County Health Department visited the Metro Supermarket in Temple City on Tuesday, after being informed that the market was selling raccoons as food. Employees say the raccoons, frozen, and bagged, were selling for $9.99 per pound. The employees say raccoon is considered a delicacy in China.
Customer Christina Dow was at the market, and after seeing the frozen raccoons went on to contact the LA County Health Department, who say that selling raccoons as food may indeed be perfectly legal, depending on the origins of the meat. The market has ceased selling raccoons, since the department’s visit, until it and be reviewed and officially approved.
YouTube link.
Several local agencies, including the LA County District Attorney’s office, were unable to say whether selling raccoons as food was legal or not. Store employees say they’ve been selling raccoons for years, and never experienced any issues until now.
Inspectors from the LA County Health Department visited the Metro Supermarket in Temple City on Tuesday, after being informed that the market was selling raccoons as food. Employees say the raccoons, frozen, and bagged, were selling for $9.99 per pound. The employees say raccoon is considered a delicacy in China.
Customer Christina Dow was at the market, and after seeing the frozen raccoons went on to contact the LA County Health Department, who say that selling raccoons as food may indeed be perfectly legal, depending on the origins of the meat. The market has ceased selling raccoons, since the department’s visit, until it and be reviewed and officially approved.
YouTube link.
Several local agencies, including the LA County District Attorney’s office, were unable to say whether selling raccoons as food was legal or not. Store employees say they’ve been selling raccoons for years, and never experienced any issues until now.
Anger after endangered pangolins seized from poachers were sold to restaurants by authorities
Conservationists are voicing their concerns after the northern province of Bac Ninh in Vietnam chose to sell 42 pangolins seized from poachers, warning that such a move would only encourage wildlife trade.
The endangered animals, all alive, were seized by local police and then handed to forest rangers on February 1.
After asking the poachers to pay fines, officials in the province sold the pangolins to local restaurants at the street price of VND1.2 million (£37, $56) a kilo.
The animals, which weighed 201 kilograms in total, brought the province around £7,400 ($11,300).
Members of Education for Nature-Vietnam, an environmental group in Hanoi, have strongly criticized the decision, calling it a "failure" in deterring wildlife trade. The group said by selling the pangolins, the authorities have become “a link” of the trading of the animals, and as such sanctioning illegal wildlife trade. It said the pangolins seized are of the Sunda Pangolin (Manis javanica) species, which is critically endangered due to high levels of poaching. The animal’s meat is considered a luxury food while its scales are used in traditional Chinese medicine to treat conditions such as psoriasis and poor circulation.
Such treatments have not been backed by adequate scientific evidence. Nguyen Thi Phuong Dung, deputy director of Education for Nature-Vietnam, said: “Any violations regarding the animals should receive criminal punishment. We also can't treat them simply as evidence of a crime and then trade them." Le Van Minh, head of Bac Ninh’s Forest Management Department, said they have dealt with the animals in accordance with the law.
Minh said a government regulation in 2006 put pangolin in the group of wild animals whose commercial use should be limited but they can still be sold by registered traders or by the authorities. The pangolins were too weak to be saved anyway, he said. Bac Ninh officials seem to be unaware of a new law that took effect last year and gave the pangolin, one of the world's most trafficked animals, a new conservation status. Hoang Thi Thanh Nhan, a senior official from the environment ministry, said that it is a rare animal listed for protection priority in Vietnam and cannot be traded.
Members of Education for Nature-Vietnam, an environmental group in Hanoi, have strongly criticized the decision, calling it a "failure" in deterring wildlife trade. The group said by selling the pangolins, the authorities have become “a link” of the trading of the animals, and as such sanctioning illegal wildlife trade. It said the pangolins seized are of the Sunda Pangolin (Manis javanica) species, which is critically endangered due to high levels of poaching. The animal’s meat is considered a luxury food while its scales are used in traditional Chinese medicine to treat conditions such as psoriasis and poor circulation.
Such treatments have not been backed by adequate scientific evidence. Nguyen Thi Phuong Dung, deputy director of Education for Nature-Vietnam, said: “Any violations regarding the animals should receive criminal punishment. We also can't treat them simply as evidence of a crime and then trade them." Le Van Minh, head of Bac Ninh’s Forest Management Department, said they have dealt with the animals in accordance with the law.
Minh said a government regulation in 2006 put pangolin in the group of wild animals whose commercial use should be limited but they can still be sold by registered traders or by the authorities. The pangolins were too weak to be saved anyway, he said. Bac Ninh officials seem to be unaware of a new law that took effect last year and gave the pangolin, one of the world's most trafficked animals, a new conservation status. Hoang Thi Thanh Nhan, a senior official from the environment ministry, said that it is a rare animal listed for protection priority in Vietnam and cannot be traded.
Diplomat worries that topless mayonnaise-throwing ladies could disrupt United Nations
A Belarusian delegate at a United Nations disarmament forum warned fellow diplomats about the possibility of jars of mayonnaise being thrown by topless women during discussions about war and peace.
The delegate issued a statement of concern during the Geneva-based U.N. Conference on Disarmament's discussion on Tuesday about improving its transparency. Belarus asked whether there was a plan to open up the meetings to members of the general public. According to the official record of the session, the delegate said such a policy could create difficulties for security and support staff.
"What if there were topless ladies screaming from the public gallery throwing bottles of mayonnaise, asked Belarus," the official summary said. The record added that the president of the Conference on Disarmament, a diplomat from Mexico, replied that "members of the public were already entitled to attend plenary meetings of the conference and sit in the public gallery, and so in theory could already drop mayonnaise onto delegates."
The Mexican said it was unlikely the gallery would ever be flooded with thousands of people, noting that there were only two people in the public gallery during Tuesday's meeting.
The delegate issued a statement of concern during the Geneva-based U.N. Conference on Disarmament's discussion on Tuesday about improving its transparency. Belarus asked whether there was a plan to open up the meetings to members of the general public. According to the official record of the session, the delegate said such a policy could create difficulties for security and support staff.
"What if there were topless ladies screaming from the public gallery throwing bottles of mayonnaise, asked Belarus," the official summary said. The record added that the president of the Conference on Disarmament, a diplomat from Mexico, replied that "members of the public were already entitled to attend plenary meetings of the conference and sit in the public gallery, and so in theory could already drop mayonnaise onto delegates."
The Mexican said it was unlikely the gallery would ever be flooded with thousands of people, noting that there were only two people in the public gallery during Tuesday's meeting.
'Worm burglar' jailed for spate of thefts from pub fruit machines
A career criminal dubbed the ‘Worm Burglar’ by police has been jailed for a string of Mission Impossible-style thefts from pubs.
Leigh Cassidy, 47, broke into pubs after ‘reconnaissance missions’ then crawled or slid along the floor on his chest to evade the motion-sensing beams of alarm systems, a court heard.
He then moved fruit machines to shield him from the beams, allowing him to break into the machines and steal cash undetected.
CCTV footage at one of nine pubs Cassidy targeted in a 16-month spree has been released by police.
He’s seen slowly sliding along the floor to a fruit machine before leaving the same way. Cassidy, of Gorton, Manchester, escaped with a total of £7,500 in the raids and caused damage estimated at £5,840. He pleaded guilty to nine counts of burglary and was jailed for four years, six months by a judge at Manchester’s Minshull Street Crown Court who blasted his ‘appalling’ criminal record of 181 previous offences, leading to 47 convictions. Philip Barnes, prosecuting, said burglaries took place in the early hours from March 2013 when fruit machines were full.
CCTV cameras in some cases were covered with bin bags. The court heard that in the majority of cases, landlords or tenants were living upstairs. Staff tips, charity collection boxes and booze were also stolen. Mr Barnes said: “The method of operation involved crawling or sliding through pubs below the ‘line of sight’ of the alarm system beams, and turning machines to shield the thief from the beam picking him up and triggering the alarm.” One pub, the Wilfred Wood in Hazel Grove, Stockport, was burgled three times by Cassidy. Others were targeted in Heaton Chapel, Stockport, Chorlton and Levenshulme. One pub break-in happened in Derby.
YouTube link.
Cassidy deposited cash the day after each burglary at a bank in Manchester, using a coin-counting machine to get exact sums, the court heard. He was arrested last May and his partner told police that he was responsible - and that she knew about his worm-like burglary method. Det Con Adele Coulter said: “On each occasion, Cassidy broke into a pub and in an effort to avoid the alarm sensors, he crawled through the pub on his front until he got to his target – hence his nickname, the ‘Worm Burglar’. Thankfully, we received information he had been involved in a burglary using the same tactic and we managed to link him with the remaining crimes.”
He’s seen slowly sliding along the floor to a fruit machine before leaving the same way. Cassidy, of Gorton, Manchester, escaped with a total of £7,500 in the raids and caused damage estimated at £5,840. He pleaded guilty to nine counts of burglary and was jailed for four years, six months by a judge at Manchester’s Minshull Street Crown Court who blasted his ‘appalling’ criminal record of 181 previous offences, leading to 47 convictions. Philip Barnes, prosecuting, said burglaries took place in the early hours from March 2013 when fruit machines were full.
CCTV cameras in some cases were covered with bin bags. The court heard that in the majority of cases, landlords or tenants were living upstairs. Staff tips, charity collection boxes and booze were also stolen. Mr Barnes said: “The method of operation involved crawling or sliding through pubs below the ‘line of sight’ of the alarm system beams, and turning machines to shield the thief from the beam picking him up and triggering the alarm.” One pub, the Wilfred Wood in Hazel Grove, Stockport, was burgled three times by Cassidy. Others were targeted in Heaton Chapel, Stockport, Chorlton and Levenshulme. One pub break-in happened in Derby.
YouTube link.
Cassidy deposited cash the day after each burglary at a bank in Manchester, using a coin-counting machine to get exact sums, the court heard. He was arrested last May and his partner told police that he was responsible - and that she knew about his worm-like burglary method. Det Con Adele Coulter said: “On each occasion, Cassidy broke into a pub and in an effort to avoid the alarm sensors, he crawled through the pub on his front until he got to his target – hence his nickname, the ‘Worm Burglar’. Thankfully, we received information he had been involved in a burglary using the same tactic and we managed to link him with the remaining crimes.”
Rottweiler has become best friends with a fox
A pet rottweiler called Spartan has become such good friends with rescued fox Ruby that he even grooms her face.
Spartan, the 12-year-old dog, became unlikely best friends with Ruby, after she was taken in and hand-reared four years ago by Ray Allibone, who runs Swampys Wildlife Rescue in Sheerness, Kent.
He said: “They get on really well. She pesters him a bit because she likes her face washed. They’re extremely friendly.” Ruby came to him very young and suffered bad health for a time. He had hoped to release her with a group of other cubs, but when she was well enough Mr Allibone said he was unfortunately let down.
The longer she stayed, the more “humanised” she became so he decided to make her his responsibility rather than let her potentially die in the wild. Ruby has her own enclosure and goes out for walks with Spartan on a lead. Mr Allibone stressed that foxes should not be kept as pets because they tend do as they please.
YouTube video. Original Facebook video.
Mr Allibone, 59, added: “You have to know what you are doing. You can’t train them as you would a dog. You could look at them more like a cat.They do whatever they like. She comes inside of an evening for a couple of hours or so and she goes back out again.”
He said: “They get on really well. She pesters him a bit because she likes her face washed. They’re extremely friendly.” Ruby came to him very young and suffered bad health for a time. He had hoped to release her with a group of other cubs, but when she was well enough Mr Allibone said he was unfortunately let down.
The longer she stayed, the more “humanised” she became so he decided to make her his responsibility rather than let her potentially die in the wild. Ruby has her own enclosure and goes out for walks with Spartan on a lead. Mr Allibone stressed that foxes should not be kept as pets because they tend do as they please.
YouTube video. Original Facebook video.
Mr Allibone, 59, added: “You have to know what you are doing. You can’t train them as you would a dog. You could look at them more like a cat.They do whatever they like. She comes inside of an evening for a couple of hours or so and she goes back out again.”
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